So you were introduced by the combine sales staff to a "new and revolutionary" concept that simply involved taking the bottom off your clean grain cross auger under the separation sieves and replacing it with a mesh cover. This will economically remove any early possibility of earth strike on your pulse crops. It will also spread those pesky weed seeds back onto the field so you are not troubled with them in the grain storage bin.
This concept is great from the point of view of the grain buyer, who doesn't ever see those weeds again, and he gives you a potentially better grade because there is no earthstrike present on the grain you deliver. From the standpoint of freight relief from the normal dockage removal charges at the primary delivery elevator, you have saved a great deal of money, well in excess of the cost of the screen.
Now comes the often forgotten hidden cost. Management of the field is now deferred to you as the operator, and you must deal with the pesky weeds left in your field, albeit, in a nice orderly row system across the field. You must decide if this will stress you in any way when it comes to testing your weed control methods. Will the preseeding burnoff do an adequate job of controlling those weeds prior to seeding, so they don't give any trouble in the crop, or will there be multiple flushes throughout the crop growing year?
Some people like to show off their new heavy harrow systems and go out after harvest and stir up some dust at the same time as they try to do a better job of spreading the straw around. At this point, I believe the weed row acts much like the under-spread chaff row. The crop following may not establish well if the weed seed row is thick, and we all know the yield loss potential by now on areas that are not well established.
What is the cost of sufficient weed control chemicals and headaches when trying to get good control on these weed rows? If your rotation indicates cereals are the next crop, you are probably not in that bad shape. But, if your next crop happens to be canola, you may very well have a big problem. You usually only have one shot at getting to the solution if you are growing non modified canola, but multiple flushes of germinating weeds and volunteer pulses could produce less than desirable harvest results.
Do you "fight" the year and try to deal with the problem in the harvested seed, or do you take the economic loss by potential downgrade and dockage? Maybe you have just delayed the problem by a year.
Perhaps what someone should develop is a gathering mechanism to collect those weed seeds and allow you to remove them from the field altogether. I am old enough to recall a weed seed removal rotary screen on the old Massey 17 combine we once owned and operated. This simply had to be dumped every so often (in the field) or I suppose, you had the option of ferrying the unit back to the yard regularly to try and make some economic use of the screenings. I also recall this similar system being employed on a farm dedicated entirely to the production of pedigreed lawn grass seed.
If you have one of the new combine toys called a yield monitor, just how do you "spot" these weed rows into the memory to try and economically and agronomically manage them in future years? They are not like a spot "ID" that appears on the field map to show a place where you wish to remind yourself that you intend to do something about that spot in the future. I suppose that the old tried and true "tractor notebook" comes into play here, although the problem should be obvious from the edge of the field, even at 100km/hr.
How do you spot the problems in a chick pea field with "thick" disease incidence?
How do you mark (spot) air drill manifold plugs when they occur over a mile long field?
How do you "fix" them so the neighbors don't have to enjoy them over the entire growing season, since they are conveniently located next to the municipal roads?
Why didn't you scout for midge?
Why didn't you apply weed control products in adequate amounts to do the job right?
These are just a few of the problems that crossed my desk at one time or another throughout the 2000 growing year.
Care to share any of your experiences? We always welcome feedback. Take the time and phone or write. We appreciate it.